Alaska-mercury OR galapagos xpedition - POLL

[NYCHICK]

Anyone ever been on this cruise or know much about it? We have narrowed it down to this or the galapagos island for next year. we did the meditteranean this year in style and we had our wedding so we want something short and not as expensive for next year. We like alaska cause it leaves out of seattle washington and that should save on the airfare portion of things. We also liek it cause we truly have never even thought of it before. we heard tha galapagos is more geared to nature-lovers.

[bean bag]

run a search for 'Galalpagos' on the boards and you'll find many posts and recommedations

[AngelicaR]

Anyone ever been on this cruise or know much about it? We have narrowed it down to this or the galapagos island for next year. we did the meditteranean this year in style and we had our wedding so we want something short and not as expensive for next year. We like alaska cause it leaves out of seattle washington and that should save on the airfare portion of things. We also liek it cause we truly have never even thought of it before. we heard tha galapagos is more geared to nature-lovers.

I have read as much as I could on the galapagos xpedition without pricing it; for me it would be a dream vacation. I am fairly sure it is expensive but a trip of a lifetime. Alaska it also all about natural wonders and is very beautiful, it will most likely cost less than the Galapagos Islands.

 

Angelica

[StephenJohnson]

-SNIP - so we want something short and not as expensive for next year. -SNIP-QUOTE]

Well, Galapagos is fairly pricey (~$3k/person and up), and the ship will be fairly hugely different from what you're used to on X ships. That being said, it's on our short list. But it and Alaska are pretty radically different choices, so I'd ask if you want expedition or mass market cruising.

[sweetave]

NYCHICK,

 

Hi I am from ny also. I went on the Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos this past July for my honeymoon. Wow! What an amazing experience. Everything from the flight, food, staff, ship, to the excursions were wonderful. Well worth the money. The total for everything (including airfare to Ecuador) came in a little under $10,000 but that was also because we stayed in suite. I believe the cheapest rate available was around $3000 without airfare to Ecuador. If you decide to do this cruise I would book airfare myself, not with the cruise line. It was like double the price and they said they only deal with American Airlines, which doesn't have a straight flight. About 3 or 4 couples had their luggage lost. One other couple that was on their honeymoon, also from ny, had their luggage lost and had to transfer planes twice. I took Continental direct from Newark. Fare was $600 rt each. It was a little less than 8 hrs. But to make a long story short I just loved this trip and Celebrity. Our room was great. We had our own veranda which was very romantic.

For our 1yr anniversary we are actually going to be taken the Alaska trip on the Mercury. I can't wait. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Good luck in your decision.

Avalyn

[ingrid295]

We are booked on the 11/7 Xpedition in Galapagos. We opted for the 10 day package which includes airfare. After reading previous post, I am concerned about the flights! When I started looking at airfare from Phoenix to Quito, roundtrip fares were in the $800 pp range. I recently received a Fare Watcher notice that the fare has reduced to $592 pp roundtrip. Continental seems to have the most direct flights from Phoenix with stops in Texas or Miami. If Celebrity only uses American, as previous poster indicates, the flight options could be really ugly with 2 stops -- one option takes you from PHX to NY to Quito.

 

Anyone been booked on a different carrier by Celebrity?

 

I called Celebrity on Monday to ask when to expect cruise documents & was told they mail 21 days in advance. I was unable to get any info on our flights!

 

One disadvantage of having Celebrity book flights is the unknown -- it would be nice to be able to tell my office what day I am leaving on vacation! Makes planning more difficult, plus you could get stuck with 2 stopovers.

 

When we first called Celebrity, they told us 1 stopover is the norm.

 

What has been the experience of other Xpedition travelers? Especially interested in those flying from West Coast to Quito.

 

If we don't like the flight options, I wonder what the odds are they will let us rebook our own flights?!

 

Thanks.. Ingrid

[rdowney]

It is unlikely that any cruise line would let you change your mind and book your own flights at this late date, but it can't hurt to ask.

 

The flights to Quito from Miami on American and Houston on Continental leave in the late afternoon to early evening. On the 10-day package, you would leave home on Friday.

 

In watching fares from Minneapolis to Quito for April and May, I noticed that the Continental fares dropped within the last week. I also found that on some days the Continental fares varied dramatically depending on which travel site I was using and that Continental's own site gave some of the highest fares and worst routings.

[NYCHICK]

oh this is for next year, not this year.